According to a new study published online in The Lancet (December 7, 2012) and Contemporary Clinical Trials, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) as an adjunct to usual care has shown to be an effective treatment for reducing depression and improving quality of life in patients with treatment resistant depression. Although pharmacotherapy is often used as a first-line treatment for depression, only one-third of patients fully respond to anti-depressants and only half receive up to a fifty percent decrease in symptoms. The current study employed a large-scale CoBalT (two parallel-group) randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of combining CBT and usual care (including pharmacotherapy) versus usual care, alone, for treatment resistant depression. Participants (n=469) ranged from age 18 to 75 and were already taking anti-depressants. They were randomly assigned to receive either CBT plus usual care (n=234) or usual care alone (n=235).

At the 6 month follow up, 46% of participants (n=95) in the CBT plus usual care group met criteria for response to treatment, as compared to only 22% of participants (n=46) in the usual care group. Those who received CBT were more likely to experience remission, received lower scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and experienced fewer symptoms of anxiety and panic. At the 12-month follow up, these improvements were maintained.

This study is the first large-scale randomized control trial investigating CBT treatment as an adjunct to usual care in patients showing treatment resistance to anti-depressants. Findings suggest that CBT in combination with usual care can be extremely effective for treating depressive symptoms and improving the quality of life of patients suffering from depression.